IDF kills 3 terrorists who murdered yeshiva student and IDF soldier

Israeli forces eliminate seven Hamas terrorists in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip, killing terrorists deported to Gaza after being released as part of the deal to free Gilad Shalit.

By World Israel News Staff

Seven Hamas terrorists freed as part of a deal to secure the release of a captured IDF soldier were killed in an Israeli airstrike in the Gaza Strip last week.

On Monday, the IDF and the Shin Bet security agency released a joint statement announcing that seven terrorists freed by Israel as part of the 2011 deal securing the return of IDF soldier Gilad Shalit – who was captured during a cross-border terrorist attack along the Gaza frontier in 2006 – were killed in an airstrike last week.

The seven terrorists were deported to the Gaza Strip upon their release in 2011, where they returned to terrorist activities in the service of Hamas.

The Israeli military and Shin Bet noted that three of the seven were involved in deadly terror attacks in the 1990s that claimed the lives of two Israelis, including an IDF soldier.

The terrorists eliminated in last week’s attack included Riyad Asila, who in the 1990s had served in Hamas’ Judea and Samaria department, and Bassam Abu Sanina, another Hamas operative in the Judea and Samaria department.

Together, Asila and Abu Sanina carried out a stabbing attack in 1998 during which an Israeli civilian was murdered.

During the May 1998 attack, Abu Sanina and Asila stabbed Haim Karman to death in the Old City of Jerusalem.

Karman, a 28-year-old married yeshiva student who studied at the Ateret Cohanim Yeshiva in the Old City, was stabbed in the chest four times during the attack.

Last week’s strike also killed Mahmoud Sariya, the Hamas terrorists responsible for the 1996 stabbing attack which killed IDF Staff Sgt. Ehud Tal in Samaria.

A total of 10 terrorists were killed in the airstrike, including Sariya, Abu Sanina, Asila, and four others who were released as part of the 2011 deal and deported to Gaza.

“These seven terrorists had been convicted… for involvement in deadly attacks and sentenced to lengthy prison terms before being released and deported to Gaza under the Shalit deal,” the IDF and Shin Bet said.

“Even after their deportation, they continued to serve in the “West Bank Headquarters,” working in regional committees tasked with promoting terror attacks in Judea and Samaria — including transferring weapons and funds to operatives.”